Richard B. Lewis II
Executive Director LAI
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Mr. Lewis is an honor graduate in Aeronautical Engineering from Princeton University and holds a
masters degree in Aerospace Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. His business
education includes courses at the Federal Executive Institute, Harvard University, London Business
School, and the Darden School. His early career was spent at Sikorsky Aircraft and LockheedCalifornia Company where he was involved in helicopter research and development programs.
From 1969 through 1985 he served in a number of civilian technical leadership positions for the US
Army. These included Deputy Director of Flight Test at the US Army Aviation Systems Test Activity,
Chief of Systems Concepts and Technology at the US Army Aviation System Command, Technical
Director of the US Army Aviation Research and Development Command, and Director of Army
Research and Technology. In that position he was the Army staff manager for the Technology Base
including development, justification and execution of all Army research, exploratory development and
advanced development programs totaling more than $5B. He was the overall manager of 34 Army
laboratories, including personnel and facilities, and of scientific and technical policy for Army R&D.
He joined ITT Corporation in 1985 as Technical Director and subsequently was promoted to Vice
President of the Defense Technology Corporation, President of the Electro-Optical Products
Division, and Group Executive and Corporate Vice President.
Under his leadership ITT’s Night Vision business grew from 25 percent to 75 percent worldwide
market share while achieving record returns on invested capital. He spearheaded customer oriented
manufacturing excellence and operational performance improvement programs with ITT units in the
US and Europe, which greatly enhanced ITT shareholder value.
From 1998-2000 Mr. Lewis was president of Rolls-Royce Defense North America and from 20012004 was Chief Operating Officer for Rolls-Royce Corporation. Under his leadership the business
delivered nearly 2,000 aircraft engines, improved customer satisfaction, won numerous awards, and
delivered exceptional profit and cash to Rolls-Royce plc.
Mr. Lewis is an Honorary Fellow and past Board Chairman of the American Helicopter Society. He
has served on the Army Science Board, the NATO AGARD Flight Mechanics Panel, AIAA Technical
Committee on Flight Testing, the Aerospace Industries Association Technical and Operations
Council, the US Senate Quality and Productivity Board for Virginia, and the Executive Board of the
Lean Aerospace Initiative as well as several civic and cultural boards. He has authored numerous
technical papers, is a patent-holder, a fixed wing pilot, a Senior Lecturer at MIT and leads business
improvement seminars for the Lean Aerospace Initiative. His honors and awards include decorations
from Secretary of Defense Weinberger, President Carter and President Reagan as well as the ITT
Harold S. Geneen Award for Creative Management and the State of Indiana’s Sagamore of the
Wabash.
MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu
16.660J / ESD.62J / 16.853 Introduction to Lean Six Sigma Methods
IAP 2012
For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.